Thoughts on McCain

A Closer Look at the Term 'Islamist' – The Takeaway. Playwright, attorney and commentator Wajahat Ali joins the program to help us pinpoint how the term "Islamist" is used and misused. He's also the lead writer of a Center for American Progress report titled "Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America."

Article | First Things. Though popular with secularists and religious conservatives, anti-Sharia legislation does not defend against theocracy but calls into question our society’s fundamental commitments to meaningful religious liberty and meaningful access to the courts. These commitments have been relied on by generations of Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, and Jews, and to try to remove them for Muslims both is unjust to Muslims and sets a dangerous precedent for other religious groups.

Al Akhbar, a Lebanese Paper, Aims at Provoking Readers – NYTimes.com. They are a remarkable blend: the paper champions gay rights, feminism and other leftist causes, even as it wholeheartedly supports Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite movement. Al Akhbar’s access to Hezbollah allows it to scoop other papers on Lebanon’s biggest continuing story, but it also publishes muckraking exposés on the abuse of domestic workers, prison overcrowding and other delicate subjects. Add splashy full-page color photos and witty tabloid-style headlines, and you have an alluring product.